Latch



Dec. 16, 1952 cHRlSTENSEN 2,621,953

LATCH Filed May 27, 1950 INVENTOR. HANS CHRISTENSEN ATTORNEY PatentedDec. 16, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LATCH Hans Christensen,Rockaway, Oreg.

Application May 2'7, 1950, Serial No. 164,794

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a latch for doors, windows, screen doors,especially the latter, with especial emphasis on casement or basementwindows that swing on hinges.

The objects of the invention are in part as follows:

An improved latch that employs a toggle link with toggle lever, that isespecially strong and efficient, comprising the virtues of extreme finalpressure in the final closure, characteristic of the toggle joint.

A latch that may be instantly and finely adjusted to compensate foreither swelling of wood parts due to storms or, reversely, to compensatefor drying out, by a simple movement without tools, available to any oneable to use the latch.

Other objects will be apparent from this specification and are pointedout in the claims.

I accomplish these objects by the structure illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the latch showing its relationship to a door, afragment of which is shown, with a door casing shown in section to whichan operating lever is eye-bolted;

Fig. 2 is of the same structural elements shown in Fig. 1 where theoperating lever has locked the door to the casing;

Fig. 3 is a section of Fig. 2 on the plane 3-3, Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a plan view of Fig. 1, with a part of the eyebolt doorattaching means omitted.

Describing the structure in greater detail:

A door (or window) structure is indicated by numeral 1 in closedrelationship with one member of a casing fragment 2.

Securely attached to the casing 2, is a stud 3, preferably unitary witha plate 3, capable of attachment with a plurality of screws as shown.

The stud 3 is fashioned with a double cammed T head 3" which has aconcavely curved cammed surface 33, and for convenience in mounting, asimilar surface is shown on the opposite side of the head 3". The stud 3is the means to which latching means on the closing member such as adoor is to be locked.

To complete the lock, an eyebolt 4, preferably threaded at 4', isscrewed through a door plate 5, the latter being securely attached tothe door by screws or in any preferred manner. A toggle link 6, ofclevis U form, is hooked through the eye of the eyebolt 4, as shown, andpivotally engaged with a toggle lever l, the operative parts of whichinclude a handle portion 1' on pivot 'l", and. at least one cam follower8, but preferably including an additional cam follower 8'. These camfollowers are angularly disposed with respect to the toggle lever I androunded for engagement with the curved rearward surface 33 of the head3".

The mode of operation is clearly illustrated in the figures, especiallyFigs. 1 and 2. It is shown that the position of the eyebolt 4, withrespect to the threaded shank 4', is a little above the axis of the stud3. By lowering the eyebolt or raising the stud an equal amount, the modeof operating the latch will be opposite to the one about to bedescribed.

The user will pull the door, window or the like into contact with thecasing 2 by the toggle lever itself, assuming that during the pull shut,the parts assume the position shown in Fig. 1. The toggle link 6 is inposition to straddle the T head 3" by dropping the cam follower 8 behindthe curved cam surface 33, whereupon a downward movement of the lever Iwill firmly lock the eyebolt 4 to the T head 3" of the stud 3, by meansof the intervening connection of the U shaped toggle link 6, with thetoggle lever 1, one leg of the toggle link 6 resting on the stud 3,which prevents it from going too far.

With a proper adjustment of the screw thread 4, a very powerful toggleforce is applied to the eyebolt 4 by the lever 1. At the scale shown,the force, by the law of the lever, will be something like four and ahalf times the pressure of the hand on the lever. By turning thethreaded portion of the eyebolt 4' to screw the shank of the eyeboltinto or out of the door plate 5, the other cam follower 8 may besubstituted, to increase or decrease the final force with which the doorpresses against the casing.

One of the principal advantages of this latch is that its parts moveeasily into engagement and operation without being watched by the userand, as noted, the latch can work upwards to engage the stud with equalfacility, by a slight change in position of either the stud or theeyebolt. Adjustment is also instantaneous if the closure is found tootight or too slack, by a mere right or left hand turn of the eyebolt.

Having fully disclosed my invention so that it can be availed of by thebuilding arts, what I claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is:

1. A latch for a door or the like swingable in a casing, comprising adoor plate, an eyebolt screwed to said door plate, a U shaped arm togglelink swingable by its closed end in the eye of said eyebolt, a togglelever pivotally mounted within the opposite end of said link, saidtoggle lever including an angularly formed cam follower, an outstandingT head stud having a shank plate for secure mounting to a casing, said Thead being a concavely formed cam, said stud with its T head cam surfacebeing mounted in position for the arms of said U shaped toggle link tostraddle said T head and one arm thereof to rest on the stud to providea fulcrum for said toggle lever.

2. A latch device for a swingable hinged door or the like for mountingin a casing, comprising an eyebolt threadably connectable to a plate onsaid swingable member, a U shaped link swingable in the eye of saideyebolt, to constitute a toggle link, a T headed stud having a shankportion for mounting substantially normal to the plane of said eyebolt,said stud having a T head adapted to be straddled by the arms of the Ushaped toggle link, a toggle lever pivotally mounted between the ends ofsaid U shaped toggle link, said toggle lever formed with a cam followerand said T head formed with a concaved cam surface therefor, the partsbeing so proportioned that when the U shaped toggle link straddles the Thead of said stud one arm contacts the shank of the stud to lock theparts in position.

3. A lever powered latch for closing a door against an abutting casingat right angle contact, comprising an eyebolt screw threaded into aplate on the door, a T headed stud fastened within the casing with aportion thereof in alignment with said eyebolt, a toggle link of U formengaged with the eye of said eyebolt, a toggle lever having a handportion at one end and a cam at its opposite end pivotally engaged withsaid toggle link at the end thereof opposite said eyebolt, said togglelink adapted to straddle the T head of the stud and the toggle leveradapted to lock behind said T head with its cam portion, upon suitablemovement of said hand portion.

4. A latch for a door or the like, comprising a U like toggle linkswingably attachable to a door, a toggle lever embodying an angular camfollower pivotally mounted between the ends of said link, said pivotmounting being at the apex of the angle between said lever and said camfollower, a T stud projecting inwardly from a support, said studembodying a normally projecting outstanding cam positioned to bestraddled by said U like toggle link and engaged by said cam follower.

HANS CHRISTENSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 366,143 Andrews et al. July 5,1887 960,961 Kusterer June '7, 1910 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date29,995 Sweden Feb. 1, 1910

